James Mirtle addressed the BS that occurred last night, but this game was just stupid.

I actually just realized why the NHL is so gung-ho about getting new fans into the game; the league keeps driving away the current/longtime fans with garbage like this.

Posted by
creasemonkey
from sweet home san diego on 04/15/12 at 08:41 PM ET

The Penguins organization should be absolutely embarrassed by what happened today in Philadelphia. The Flyers are not innocent in all of this, but a good portion of the shit that went on was caused by a Penguins team in full-on meltdown mode.

It’s time to punish Dan Bylsma for his continuous refusal to reign in his own players. The Penguins have transformed into one of the dirtiest teams in the league under Bylsma and this was absolutely disgraceful behavior by guys like Asham, Neal, and Adams.

Hopefully Lemieux is once again questioning whether he wants to participate in a league that has his team in it. Organizational changes need to come and the Shanahammer needs to strike very hard after what happened today.

Neal should be suspended at least 1-2 games.
Asham should not be allowed to play for 10-15 games.

Having said that, if you watched this game from the begining. I have no idea how the league can allow the officiating to be any worse than they have allowed this entire series.

The crap that Philly gets away with is incredible. Honestly, does anyone think that a 19 year old kid is keeping Malkin off the scoresheet from good play or crazy amounts of interferance? I have never seen so much clutching and grabbing since the lockout than i have seen this series.

Lastly, if you all love seing the penguins lose, thats fine… but at some point the flyers will be playing your team and you will feel the frustration of knowing NBC owns the NHL right now. They also so happened to own the flyers.

The Penguins have transformed into one of the dirtiest teams in the league under Bylsma and this was absolutely disgraceful behavior by guys like Asham, Neal, and Adams.

Yea, adams probably will be out 1 game also. Although i hate the fact that you can not pull a guys hair in a fight. It should be like the NFL where if you want to grow your hair like a clown, then it is fair to be pulled in a fight. Hartnell is the worst at fighting, he always just locks the guy up, never gets any punches in.

Embarrassing. I’ve never been more embarrassed to be a Penguins fan than I was today. This team has no discipline. No composure. It’s disgusting. Bylsma, getting the best player in the world back, has allowed this team to go from juggernaut to Slapshot in one month. I love this team. I will never stop supporting them. But everyone in the organization needs to be held accountable. This is unacceptable. Talent is not the issue here. Composure and discipline is. It’s one thing to get beat on the ice. It’s another to embarrass your organization doing it. I’m disgusted.

Asham’s sucker punch is unacceptable. Neal leaving the feet to hit Couturier is unacceptable. No, the Flyers haven’t been angels, either. But the Penguins are embarrassing themselves, the front office, and the fans.

Mario should issue an apology to the fans of this team. Not for being down 3-0 or going out in the first round. But for resorting to the very tactics to which they lamented 14 months ago. Disgusting. Absolutely fricken disgusting.

Although i hate the fact that you can not pull a guys hair in a fight. It should be like the NFL where if you want to grow your hair like a clown, then it is fair to be pulled in a fight.

I actually agree with you on this point, but I think Adams’ suspension should be a result of him being the third-man in when he grabbed Hartnell from behind and started throwing punches at the back of his head.

Asham’s sucker punch is unacceptable. Neal leaving the feet to hit Couturier is unacceptable. No, the Flyers haven’t been angels, either. But the Penguins are embarrassing themselves, the front office, and the fans.

The flyers today got away with so much witht he officiating calling everything on the penguins today that you could almost see it coming. The only way that you keep this crap from happening is if you are going to call the game both ways… and it was not even close today. The two seperate penalties on Kunitz where nuts… you could almost count 3 seperate slashes from philly prior to kunitz but they only would send the flyers to the box.

also, lets leave Mario out of the talk every time a penguin does something stupid. He can not control everyone. No one seems to give him credit for essentially transforming Matt Cooke into a civilized player.

lets leave Mario out of the talk every time a penguin does something stupid.

I’ll gladly do that for isolated incidents, but this game was a complete farce.

This wasn’t a Penguin doing something stupid, this was the Penguins melting down as a team and embarrassing themselves and their sport as an organization. Lemieux has thrown his hat in the ring to make public comments about similar embarrassments to hockey, so it’s fitting to bring his name up here.

This wasn’t a Penguin doing something stupid, this was the Penguins melting down as a team and embarrassing themselves and their sport as an organization. Lemieux has thrown his hat in the ring to make public comments about similar embarrassments to hockey, so it’s fitting to bring his name up here.

No doubt this was bad. I obviously codemn it as a fan, but i have to be completely honest… when it was happening, i really wanted the penguins to finally show some damn emotion. Even Dan B seems to be sleep walking up to that point. Of course it was over the top, and some very key players that the penguins can not afford to lose will be gone for the next game(s). This series was over after giving up the three goal lead in game 1. I think that all this crap that boiled over was just the pens giving up to be honest. I think half of them felt that it did not matter if they were available for game 4 or not they way the series has gone.

Listen, I know you’re upset, extremely so; and you should be. Your team has been bad since Crosby’s return…now why is that???

Hmmmm…let’s think about it, but let’s not say it…we may get fined.

You’ve been embarrassed in this series. Your lack of class is astounding. You guys make the Canucks seem likable.

Paul, i know you are a wings fan… but you have to see how this crap all gets started don’t you? I mean, there are wings threads and wings threads, and then there is a penguins one…. and you have guys like Red Winger doing i have no idea what, and then you try to figure out how things get out of hand.

The way to stop that sort of crap is to pick a team that is more guilty and nail them with a couple of majors with no penalty given to the less guilty team. I remember that being done a few times back in the dark ages and it worked wonders. In this case Pittsburgh should have gotten that treatment.

Actually, Pittsburgh is lucky that Philly kept its goons in check. If I were coaching them, I would have been tempted to turn Rinaldo, who is a pure goon and cheap shot artist loose on Crosby and Malkin..

Oh, you noticed that it is one of the two Pittsburgh tools who sometimes post here who thought all this was Philthydelphia’s fault. I hat that team more than I do venereal disease, but this was purely Pittsburgh’s stupidity and cheap shot activity that led to the travesty.

It did not help one little bit having Eric Furlatt as a referee. He is so clueless I am surprised he can breath on his own.

If I were coaching them, I would have been tempted to turn Rinaldo, who is a pure goon and cheap shot artist loose on Crosby and Malkin..

Rinaldo made his way out onto the ice, but the refs called him for basically getting close to Kennedy. It was the refs way of helping the pp to/against show up more even when the game was completely over and only 1 minute remained in the game.

The way to stop that sort of crap is to pick a team that is more guilty and nail them with a couple of majors with no penalty given to the less guilty team. I remember that being done a few times back in the dark ages and it worked wonders. In this case Pittsburgh should have gotten that treatment.

Also, they did kind of do that… giving the flyers a pp with only a few minutes left. The problem is that the flyers predictably scored again, which only caused even more hostility.

The officiating has been horrible. Had they caught the first Neal charge, they wouldn’t have had to wait for him to run someone else to imagine a charge. That was an out of control game. Adams should get the boot for being third man in. Crosby tied up Hartnell and when Hartnell retaliated, Adams jumped him. Crosby really needs to sack up and fight the fights he picks.

What all of you arguing fail to realize is that this is not isolated to the Penguins or Flyers. This Sh!t has been going down in most every game. Every series.

The players do not respect each other, and, it sure looks like they do not respect the fans that pay their salaries. This starts with The Commissioner and The Director of Player Safety. They call the shots from Mission Control each and every game.

So before you idiots start slinging more insults at each other and your Team’s behavior, think about where this all began this season.

After game 1, Detroit-Nashville, when Bettman and Shanny allowed Weber to get away with an obscene, illegal, disgusting, guttless shot. It has escalated and spread like a cancer through out the playoffs.

The officiating has been horrible. Had they caught the first Neal charge, they wouldn’t have had to wait for him to run someone else to imagine a charge. That was an out of control game. Adams should get the boot for being third man in. Crosby tied up Hartnell and when Hartnell retaliated, Adams jumped him. Crosby really needs to sack up and fight the fights he picks.

#1 i agree the officiating has been by far the worst.
#2 although i agree Neal will most likely be suspended (if the league has any clue that is) however, the first hit was really almost a collision on accident. The second one moments after was reckless and will cost him at least 1 game.
#3 adams should be given at least 1 game for third man in, but who really cares… i know the flyers dont care and the pens probably dont either. adams has been worthless.
#4 Did you watch the whole game? Sid did fight earlier, and the ref jumped into the scrum with him and hartnell once adams jumped in… nice try though to pile on the crosby hate.

The Penguins organization should be absolutely embarrassed by what happened today in Philadelphia. The Flyers are not innocent in all of this, but a good portion of the shit that went on was caused by a Penguins team in full-on meltdown mode.

Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 04/15/12 at 06:47 PM ET

This. The Flyers are willing dancers of course and generally can cause enough problems on their own with children like Hartnell in the lineup, but the Pens instigated every… single… time. A complete joke.

I also agree with Red Winger: the Canucks are now no longer the most-hated team in the NHL. The Pens earned that back today. The thing that should have pushed things over the edge for most? Two Pens banging on an outnumbered Flyer in the corner while Staal and another Pen ran interference to try to ensure no Flyers could come in and interfere with the gangbang. Stay classy, Penguins…

The goaltending on BOTH sides today was also laughable. My wife, who regularly defends players from just about any team, even began ragging on Fleury for how laughable he is. I was actually feeling sorry for Pens fans for a while, Fleury was letting in such terrible goals. Johnson truthfully was no better in the least. That said though… wow Bryzgalov is NOT the answer, Philly. Have fun with that. He’s nearly as big a flake as Fleury.

Neal should be suspended at least 1-2 games.
Asham should not be allowed to play for 10-15 games.

Posted by gretzky_to_lemieux on 04/15/12 at 06:53 PM ET

Asham basically saw to it that Pens fans can never ever say a single word about Bertuzzi ever again, because what he did was really no different. The cross-check to the face/throat was bad enough and suspendable on its own, the punch to the back of the head while the player is down was indefensible and literally no different than Bertuzzi’s on Moore.

Having said that, if you watched this game from the begining. I have no idea how the league can allow the officiating to be any worse than they have allowed this entire series.

The crap that Philly gets away with is incredible.

Posted by gretzky_to_lemieux on 04/15/12 at 06:53 PM ET

Truthfully as a 3rd party who really has no favored team here (I dislike both) I don’t think they let Philly get away with any more than they let Pittsburgh. I really don’t think the refs favored anyone, I think the refs just sucked and are ill-equipped to handle the PIT-PHI series because the league has no foresight whatsoever. The league looked at the first two games and decided it was over with no worries, completely forgetting that changing the venue to Philly could mean a bloodbath.

So, do either of these teams have defensemen? I’m just curious, because even with the goalies as bad as they’ve been, it still would appear that nobody plays defense on either side. Simmonds splitting the defense? REALLY, Pittsburgh? Wayne frigging Simmonds?

leave mario out of this? why? mario puts himself in the convo for the letter he sent last season

“Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be. But what happened Friday night on Long Island wasn’t hockey. It was a travesty. It was painful to watch the game I love turn into a sideshow like that.

The NHL had a chance to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport. It failed.

We, as a league, must do a better job of protecting the integrity of the game and the safety of our players. We must make it clear that those kinds of actions will not be tolerated and will be met with meaningful disciplinary action.

If the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need to re-think whether I want to be a part of it.” Mario Lemieux, 02.13.2011

Asham basically saw to it that Pens fans can never ever say a single word about Bertuzzi ever again, because what he did was really no different. The cross-check to the face/throat was bad enough and suspendable on its own, the punch to the back of the head while the player is down was indefensible and literally no different than Bertuzzi’s on Moore.

You are right for sure… the difference is the penguins will not re-sign him after this incident, and he will never from this point again wear a penguin sweater… the wings however hired burtuzzi after the incident..

you are not unbiased, so to pretend is an insult. The flyers had 6 to 3 pp opportunities before all the crap happened in the third. The game was officiated in favor of the flyers without any doubt.

As for defensemen and goalies… i really have no answer at all. I have never seen a series played out this way. So many times you hear people say you dont want to get into a scoring race type of game with the penguins… well the flyers took that and said ‘why not’ and it is working for sure. Scoring is not a problem for the pens, but defense is discusting.

the real problem now is has Martin showed the league enough now that shero can never get rid of him? This guys is completely worthless.

Crybaby Crosby and Monkey-face Malkin...The most hypocritical, whining jackasses. Seriously…They get their butts kissed by the officials all year round and they get away with murder consistently. It’s a disgrace. Crosby deserves a career ending injury. MAYBE that would shut him up for once…“poor me!” what a joke!

Asham...This guy is grossly stupid and dirty.

Neal...He better hope he gets suspended because he’ll possibly have multiple bones broken if he plays in game four and FULLY DESERVE IT. via KO by Simmonds, Shelley, etc.

Bylsma...This semi guy may be the most disgracefully gutless of them all. It’s been weeks and weeks now and all he’s done is pat his “stars” on the ass for being complete idiot cheapshot artists. Laviolette should have decked him 2 weeks ago…

In closing…I will not be reading this board because I just stumbled upon it doing a google search. I must say that The Penguins are by far the most ridiculous dirty joke of a team in the sport. It’s a shame nothing has been done about this since it’s been going on for a while now. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such pathetic excuses for “Professional” Athletes in my entire life. This team has been ruining the sport for a while now.

It’s a real sad day that there are so many douchebags on one team that they make Matt Cooke(Major C*nt) of all people look like an angel…

Posted by
Lord Coppin
from Land Of Cry Baby Hypocritical Superstars on 04/15/12 at 10:03 PM ET

I watched the second and third periods. I saw Crosby’s three punches to Schenn’s face with the left (as he held the jersey). I’m not sure if that was why he got the roughing call, but gloved punches are gutless.

But even still, the lack of discipline in Pittsburgh is astounding, and Crosby is the captain. There’s plenty of reasons to pile on the hate if we’re talking cheap shots OR the inability to get a team moving in a coherent direction.

I watched the second and third periods. I saw Crosby’s three punches to Schenn’s face with the left (as he held the jersey). I’m not sure if that was why he got the roughing call, but gloved punches are gutless.

1. I’ve NEVER seen Asham hit a guy when he was on the ice. He’s the most respectful tough guy in the league. When a guy goes down, he stops. He always has. Today? Punches a guy in the back of the head after cheapshotting him to the ice.

2. James Neal was a guy who I coveted when he was on Dallas - big, fast, skilled, beast and clean. I’ve NEVER seen him do anything dirty.

So two guys I had the utmost respect do crappy stuff suddenly? Coincidence? Or culture?

Posted by
Adam Johson
from PA on 04/15/12 at 10:22 PM ET

I didn’t start watching til late so I don’t know what happened throughout the whole thing. The thing that got me was the refs had no idea what to do. Instead of throwing Neal out, they bring him back off the bench and send him to the box?! What did they think was going to happen sending him back out there. The flyers wanted a piece of him, and they said here ya go. The league really messed up by not suspending Weber, and they are sure regretting it now. I think in the next CBA the players need to let them levy bigger fines. If they’re not going to suspend them, make it really hurt in the pocketbook. These guys drop 2500 on dinner. The nfl isn’t perfect, but they put dents in pocketbooks.

Posted by
T
on 04/15/12 at 10:23 PM ET

You are right for sure… the difference is the penguins will not re-sign him after this incident, and he will never from this point again wear a penguin sweater… the wings however hired burtuzzi after the incident..

@gretzky_to_lemieux,

Are you sure about this? The Penguins resigned Cooke in June 2010—after his hits on Anisemov, Walker, and Savard. They even gave him a no-movement clause.

It’s great that Lemieux and Bylsma finally got him to change his game (even if it doesn’t help Anisemov, Walker, Savard, McDonagh, and whoever it was on the Blue Jackets), but I don’t see any evidence that the Penguins will not re-sign a player whom they consider valuable because of headshots. (Decide for yourself whether Asham could be considered valuable!)

Posted by
Ken
on 04/15/12 at 10:24 PM ET

I even get the sense that the Canadian media is tiring on Crosby and his absence of sportsmanship:

“Crosby ignited the scrum when he twice jabbed goalie Ilya Bryzgalov’s glove against the ice. Giroux, third in the NHL in points this season, shoved Crosby from behind. Crosby, clearly not caring about his history of concussions, retaliated by shoving Giroux’s head against the glass.”

Sad to see a talented guy resort to crap like this, especially when he’s so frail himself.

Posted by
Adam Johnson
from PA on 04/15/12 at 10:26 PM ET

So the Pens are playing with their heads up their asses…

And the Wings are skating only when they want to…I suppose that’ll classify as playing with their heads up their asses as well. So much for round 3.

The only thing I question though is…have then Pens given up and are just trying to wound the Flyers as much as they can so they don’t get too deep in the playoffs? The way they’re doing it isn’t going to work. Playing a grinding style like the Predaturds, the Blose and the ‘Yotes hurts more than gooning it up does…but I digress. I’m still pissed from the lack of fire the Wings showed today.

Posted by
mrfluffy
from A wide spot on I-90 in Montana on 04/15/12 at 10:32 PM ET

So when does all this get pointed back at the league? This isn’t the only series with cheap shotting and goonery. From what I’ve seen there have been multiple instances of things getting well out of hand in just about each matchup, PIT/PHI has just escalated further than the others for now.

This crap gets out of hand at least in part due to the officiating and the non-factor that is now supplemental discipline. Supplemental discipline is clearly not a threat to the players; on ice officials do not take control of the games early when they have the opportunity to put an end to the violence; all the way down to one-sided power play opportunities slanting games, lead to frustration and sometimes blow-outs where some feel the need to “make a statement.”

By no means does this absolve any of the offending parties (and kudos to fans of the offending teams for condemning them), but a big fat finger needs to be pointed at league officiating and anyone involved in keeping this game hockey and not cage fights. From the stripes on up there has been a massive failure.